To have befriended this bird?

[Tangled59]

I live right in the middle of a market town just off the main square and have a huge rooftop terrace.

I noticed this beautiful pigeon the other day, dont know if the photo does it justice but its a beautiful cream colour. It also has "wristbands" on its feet.

This morning I fed it some bread and it ate out of my hand! It appears to enjoy sauntering around my terrace.

AIBU to have it as a semi feral pet? What can i put out for it (im assuming bread isnt great)? Or is that irresponsible?

pop down to wilkos and get it some bird food. It will poo on your roof! sorry bout that, but it sounds friendly! Wash your hands after any contact

Wrist bands as in coloured feathers or as in racing pigeon tags?!

Im calling her Nougat!

I also have two cats who have a massive catio and run, their new hobby is now tracking her!

By wristbands, do you mean man-made rings? In which case it could be a racing pigeon gone off course. Google racing pigeon clubs in your area. Even if the bird doesn't belong to them, they should be able to identify the owner by the leg rings.

Could it be a racing pigeon?

@MyKingdomForBrie

Tags! On her left foot is a red band, and on her right an orange one and a black one

It looks like it’s got rings on it’s legs. It’s probably a racing pigeon which has dropped.

YANBU

I'm in France btw so dont know if that changes the deal with the tags?

What does "dropped" mean?
Sorry if this is dumb but:

1. Do pigeons have tags for any reason other than racing?
2. If a racing pigeon doesnt "go home" could it be upset? Basically does she want me to get her home or is she happy chilling around here?

Probs racing pigeon - that's why eating out of your hand as used to human contact and looks in really good nick. Agree with PP 're trying to return to owner.

Ohh you mean get have found a racing pigeon. If you have you should be able to use the rings to contact the owner if needed.

There was a lovely thread on here a while ago charting the journey from her finding a racing pigeon to getting it back home.

Bread won’t be of enough nutritional value, but most pet shops can tell you which bird food would be best. Have you some uncooked rice, popcorn or lentils? They are quite a good food for a pidgin. Make sure there is some nice fresh water for it. It may be bunkering down in preparation for the strong winds and should flow off in a couple of days. This is a good resource site www.rpra.org/stray-reporting/

It's a racing pigeon don't give it bread, it can have crushed cornflakes or bird feed and a deep bowl of water. Have a look at these sites www.rpa.org.uk www.homingpigeons.co.uk they have lots of advice.

If the bird doesn't fly away in a few days you need to report it. I've done this when we found a tired pigeon a few hundred miles off course. We looked after him for a couple of weeks until DP was able to take him home. He was going to meet up with the owner, but in the end it was agreed that the pigeon would fly home from a few miles away, and he did. The owner sent me photographic proof!

If you do need to catch it you can do a line of tinned sweetcorn into a box. That worked for us.

Information and how to report here

How lovely, we hand reared a little Wood Pigeon nestling last year and he still lives in one of our trees.
Buy some Pigeon food, bread isn’t good for them, and a shallow dish of water too

....agree with pp, they do love tinned sweet corn!

Please do some research before contacting the owner- http://helpwildlife.co.uk/pigeon-racing-ethics/ Pigeon racing can be very cruel.

I have heard several stories of the owner turning up (if indeed they bother) and immediately breaking the bird's neck rather than continue to spend money on a bird that gets lost. Of course people may tell you the opposite but bear it in mind.

We had a lost racer that visited our bird table for over a year, it was semi-tame and loved peanuts. It eventually paired up with a wild pigeon and brought its babies to see us!

Here's the French site you need.

Wow!!!!!!
Well I have both sweetcorn and popcorn!

Is pigeon racing cruel?

Will Nougat be feeling sad and lost at not being in her home?

You need @TheSassyAssassin, for 'twas she who had the racing pigeon. That was a lovely thread.

No it’s not cruel. It’s pigeons doing exactly what they do instinctively. Most pigeon fanciers treat their birds like members of the family.

A catio

Nougat is beautiful, give him a flake from me!

😊

Oooooh hello! Another pigeon thread! How exciting!

Here's my adventures last summer! www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_classics/2947356-Anyone-lost-this-On-my-backstep-if-its-yours

Good luck Tangled - good advice on this thread already (and more on mine) but shout if you have any other Qs!

Waves to PSB! Thanks for letting me know about this thread! All ok with you lovely?